It’s important that Biden spoke in support of Ukraine – President’s Office

The summit of the President of the United States of America Joe Biden and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has partially set the state of affairs in international politics and bilateral relations at the moment, the key topics are discussed only in the format of announcements.

It's important that the head of the White House spoke in support of Ukraine, said the adviser to the Head of the Office of the President, Mykhailo Podoliak, Ukrinform reports.

"Everything is quite transparent. The summit of the presidents of the United States and Russia has partially set the state of affairs in international politics and bilateral relations for now. He stressed that there's an enormous difference in worldviews between countries, but global security definitely needs dialogue. Key topics, in my opinion, were discussed only in the format of announcements. Therefore, we should expect the development of such a dialogue," Podoliak said.

At the same time, in his opinion, for the US President, this summit was a sign of fundamental positions. America returns to the global agenda, returns to deeper cooperation with its European allies, and clearly states what the consequences will be for Russia in case of destructive actions against America or partners, and also indicates what problems they can still solve together.

At the same time, the adviser to the Head of the OP stressed that previously there were many fears that the presidents of the United States and Russia could agree on a Ukrainian or other issue "in secret, behind the scenes, with significant reputational damage to other countries."

He stressed that according to the available information, they have specific agreements only on returning ambassadors and strategic stability and control of nuclear weapons, and in fact, on all other topics, they set different positions.

"What's extremely important for us? President Biden clearly stressed that he spoke in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also mentioned the Minsk agreements, but in the wording: we need to step up diplomatic efforts to implement them. This is important. Because it means a slightly new approach. The realities are a little different than they were at the time when Minsk agreements were formed and the implementation sequence and logistics were laid down, that is, not directly, but we can talk about modernization, and we intensified work on a more adequate reading of Minsk at all levels. Biden's words actually support us," Podoliak stressed.

He called it indicative of how differently the Russian president commented on this issue.

"In fact, for the first time, he's publicly acknowledged that he rejects any proposals on how Minsk can really be implemented and demands that only one part of "Minsk" be implemented, the political one. That is, the Russian leadership is only interested in holding elections in Donetsk and Luhansk, while the occupation continues, and to record what they call 'special status.' At the same time, they completely ignore the security context. It cannot be called logical, and it's great that this approach isn't really supported by the world community, including America, as we heard yesterday," the adviser to the Head of the Office of the President emphasized.

As Rubryka reported, the first meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place on June 16 in Geneva at the initiative of the White House chief.